Leeds chairman Ken Bates has issued an astonishing plea for clubs across the world to boycott the World Cup finals and European Championship – accusing UEFA and FIFA of “speaking with forked tongues”.

Bates used his programme notes last night to pan recent decisions taken by both governing bodies.

Of FIFA’s decision to award the 2022 World Cup finals to Qatar, Bates said: “There have always been suspicions about staging the World Cup there.

“[FIFA president] Sepp Blatter claimed by going to new countries it is spreading the word and helps take football to a much wider audience, but Australia, who lost out, has a much higher population of over 22million, compared to Qatar’s approximate 1.8m. The climate in Qatar in summer often exceeds 100 degrees, but now the suggestion is that it be switched to winter.

“That’s nothing compared to the irreversible financial damage it would do to domestic football. This madness must be stopped in its tracks.

“The Association of European Leagues, the FAs and domestic leagues should join a common cause and say enough is enough. If FIFA persist with this scheme they should collectively boycott the event and not make their players available.

That’s nothing compared to the irreversible financial damage it would do to domestic football

Ken Bates

“The ultimate sanction will be to resign from this incompetent organisation and see them collapse. Both UEFA and FIFA speak with forked tongues. They say clubs should reduce the size of domestic competitions to reduce players’ fatigue, while at the same time increasing international fixtures, including fatuous friendlies, all for profit.”

Bates also launched into the move to make the European Championship in 2020 a pan-Continental tournament, with the finals played in major cities across Europe, instead of based in one or two countries.

He said: “This could mean the games are staged anywhere from Dublin to Moscow, Belgrade or even Jerusalem. The logistics of implementing this idea would be horrendous, least of all for the PBF (Poor Bloody Fans).”